Objective: To assess the effectiveness of social marketing and user embracement strategies developed in a hemotherapy service and to assess the restrained demand for blood and blood components in a reference hospital before and after the actions. Methods: This is a quantitative comparative study carried out in a hemotherapy service and in a hemotherapy service of a reference hospital in the city of Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, between September and December of 2015. The strategies included social marketing through the sending of letters and e-mails and phone calls to people who could give blood again. User embracement consisted in welcoming users by showing them an information booklet. Data obtained from the database, particularly records of transfusions requested and performed, were used to compare the number of donations performed before and after the actions with data of the previous year using descriptive statistics and Student’s t test. Results: The overall number of donations increased, especially in the last month when the interventions were performed (p=0.0397). The average number of voluntary blood donations decreased from 237 donations/month in 2014 to 222 donations/month in 2015. The average number of voluntary apheresis donations of platelets increased from 11 donations/month in 2014 to 17 donations/month in 2015. Conclusion: The strategies implemented during the research period were effective in increasing apheresis donation of platelets, but had no positive effects on whole-blood donation.